Batavia graduate Kevin Bryant dies after rafting accident in Colorado

Former Batavia High School basketball standout Kevin J. Bryant died Sunday, less than one week after a rafting accident in Colorado.

Bryant, 21, was taken off life support at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, Colo., according to hospital officials.

Bryant had been rafting down the Poudre River in Fort Collins June 2 when he was thrown from the raft and went under the water. Because of a lack of oxygen to the brain, he was placed on life support.

Larimer County Deputy Coroner Greg Fairman said the river had been running high and rough. At least one other person drowned in the river last week, he said.

Bryant twice was named to the Daily Herald's All-Area team and helped the Bulldogs win a sectional championship in 2003 and a regional title in 2004, his senior season.

"He was a tremendous leader, a tremendous competitor," Batavia head coach Jim Roberts said. "He was like a coach on the floor. He made my job a lot easier. There's just an unbelievable emptiness."

Bryant graduated last month from Illinois Wesleyan University, where he was a three-year varsity player for the Titans.

"This is a very sad day for our basketball program and the entire Illinois Wesleyan community," IWU coach Ron Rose said.

"Kevin really epitomized all that's good about a college student-athlete. Kevin was so highly respected by all those who came in contact with him because he was such a hard worker and fierce competitor on the court but such a gentleman and the most loyal of teammates off it."

Jason Bloom was a teammate and roommate of Bryant's.

"Kevin was a winner," he said. "He would do anything to make people happy. He was an extremely loyal friend. It was a privilege to call him one of my best friends."

Bryant graduated from Batavia in 2004. The Bryant family has been known as a basketball family in the area for years.

His father, John, was an all-stater at West Aurora High School in the mid-1970s. Both John and Kevin's uncle, Jay Bryant, are in the West Aurora sports hall of fame.

At family gatherings, the family often played basketball and Kevin worked to get better.

"As a Bryant, you have to get in there and mix it up," his uncle said. "That's how you get better."

Kevin, who averaged more than 19 points per game as a senior at Batavia, was more than a basketball player and people looked up to him, Jay Bryant said.

"His smile lit up the room," he said. "(Kevin) set the bar high for his siblings."

Another uncle, Mark Bryant, agreed.

"Kevin was the kind of person parents hope their children grow up to be," he said. "While he was a good basketball player, even more so he was a good person. It's one thing to be good at sports and basketball. It's another thing to be a loving brother."

He is survived by his parents, John and Theresa, and four siblings.

Visitation will be from 2 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Healy Chapel, 370 Division Drive, Sugar Grove. Call (630) 466-1330 for more information. A funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Holy Cross Catholic Church, 2300 Main St., Batavia.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the IWU Kevin Bryant Memorial Scholarship Fund in Bloomington.